CLUB RIDE: Johnson Comfort

REVIEW: Club Ride Johnson Underwear

The Club Ride Johnson is a lightly padded men’s underwear designed for bike commuting and short recreational cycling. They provide a bit of the comfort of proper padded cycling shorts when in the saddle, while providing much more comfort when out of the saddle. Normal padded bike shorts are crucial for comfort when spending long periods of time cycling, but aren’t exactly fashionable or comfortable when not on the bike. Most feel like you’re walking around with a diaper on. The Johnson are designed for all day comfort, on or off the bike.

I decided to put this new underwear concept to the ultimate test, by using them on a long adventure motorcycle ride. I figured a little extra padding couldn’t hurt while putting long days on my KTM 950 Adventure, a bike not known to be the smoothest out there. Over 26 days and 5,000+ miles, 2,000 or so off pavement, through NE North America, I wore the Club Ride Johnson about half the time. The other half I wore long johns, as the weather got quite cold.

While I spent many hours on the moto, I also spent quite a bit of time hiking around, taking photos and doing maintenance on the bike. The Club Ride Johnson gave me that little bit of extra comfort I desired on the bike, while also being quite comfortable while just out and about. I was also impressed with the odor resistance, moisture wicking and relatively quick drying properties of the Johnson.

Good underwear, of any style (Check out my Boxer Review), doesn’t come cheap, and the Club Ride Johnson is no exception. I however do believe that the Johnson is worth the cost, and a great addition to any adventure motorcyclist or bike commuter’s apparel quiver.

Inquiring Minds: The first thing I asked about with this product was the loops around the waistband, as I couldn’t find a function for them. Club Ride sells a short with this underwear integrated into them, attached by snaps at the loops. The loops also act as a way to hang the product from a merchandising card for retail display. It is perfectly fine to cut the loops off if they bother you.

(Disclaimer: Club Ride provided this product to Exploring Elements for review consideration.)